I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system for encouraging people to return shopping carts to a predetermined designated area.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Many stores, especially grocery stores, have a plurality of shopping carts which are used to carry goods purchased from the store by the customers to the customers' vehicles. After the goods or groceries are unloaded from the carts, the customer typically leaves the shopping cart in the parking lot area. This is disadvantageous in a number of different respects.
One problem created by shoppers who simply leave the shopping carts in the middle of the parking lot is that the store must hire personnel to periodically retrieve its shopping carts from the parking lot and return them to the desired shopping cart area. This results in high labor costs for the store.
A still further disadvantage of shopping carts in the parking lot area is that the shopping carts can strike and damage cars and other vehicles in the parking lot. Such damage to the customer vehicles not only results in ill will towards the store, but can also result in financial claims made by customers against the store in order to repair the vehicle damage.
A still further disadvantage of shopping carts left in the parking lot by customers is that a relatively high percentage of the shopping carts are oftentimes in the parking lot. Consequently, it is necessary for the store to purchase additional shopping carts in order to have sufficient shopping carts available at all times for use by customers in the store. Shopping carts are expensive and this results in an additional equipment cost for the store.